Impact, Aftershock, Aftermath
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 980b: Sam receives some devastating news that will affect things for both him and for Nell.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 46th cycle. Now cycle 47!_

* * *

_**This is a shift day.** There was another upload this morning: Troika, chapter 14._

* * *

**"Impact, Aftershock, Aftermath"  
Sam & Nell (OC), Sam/Rachel  
Sam & Nell/Samchel series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

After the ups and downs of the last little while, with Nell's night at the ER and his recovery of trust in his abilities as a father, he thought they were done. The dark was gone, now things would get back to normal. Then came the e-mail.

It had been sent by one of his friends back home, from his old town, before they'd moved to Lima. It had been very simple, and he had fixated for a moment on the message that accompanied the link. All it said was 'Thought you should know.' He had clicked the link then, and at first he wasn't sure what he was looking at, why Colin would have sent him a newspaper article.

But then he read on. There had been an accident. Five girls from his school's sister establishment had been involved in an accident. Two had required little to no medical attention, one was still in critical condition, one had died on the operating table, and one had died on impact. That last one was Summer Harrington… his Summer… Nell's mother.

He'd sat there for a good ten minutes just staring at the screen in abject shock. It was impossible, someone was pulling a really sick and inappropriate joke on him, it couldn't be. He hadn't spoken to her in over a year, since Nell was born, but… No, it couldn't be.

So he'd done all he could do. He had pulled up a search engine, typed in her name and their town… There were more articles. Of course an accident like this would draw the media's eye. There were talks about who was responsible, if there were drugs or alcohol involved. It hadn't been Summer at the wheel. He knew the driver, too. Lena, Summer's best friend… She was the other fatality.

After all the talk from the media, there was the other side, the kids who knew and had known the girls, the boys from his school, the girls from Summer's school… Someone had even started a web page, where people left thoughts, well wishes and sympathies, both for those who had survived, and those who had not…

This was real, it wasn't a joke, Summer was…

The sound of Nell's cries, as she'd woken up from her nap, had just brought it home. He turned in his chair, looking at her there in her crib. She'd never even seen Summer, never been held by her. The day she was born, they had just pulled her free, they'd cut the cord, and as far as she was concerned she had no more to do with the matter; she was Sam's now.

He'd always thought one day she'd change her mind, that she'd want to know her daughter, and she would contact him. He would have let her see her, too. He knew, as much as he hated that she wasn't there, that he couldn't expect her to take it as he did. Part of him wanted to hate her, but he couldn't. She could have decided not to have the baby, but she'd carried her to term, took care of her in those nine months whether she saw it that way or not. She wasn't a bad person and he couldn't see her that way.

But she was gone now, and with her all those possibilities had vanished. Nell would never know her birth mother, never get to see the girl he'd once loved. She looked like her, too. A lot of her was him, but there were those unmistakable parts that were all Summer. The more she grew, the more he could see it. And when he saw it, he wondered how she would react to seeing herself in that little face.

He was still in shock, and for a while he had sat there, with Nell in his arms. She'd fallen asleep again before long, but he couldn't move.

He hadn't been the one to call her and tell her to come. He was supposed to meet her at the mall, but he'd never showed, didn't reply to calls or texts, and she'd been worried, so she'd come over. His mother had no idea what was happening yet. She wasn't there, and after three rings Sam had finally heard the doorbell. It was after three more rings that he got up, put Nell down, and went to answer. When Rachel saw his face, she knew something had happened. He nodded for her to come in.

"When you didn't show, I wasn't sure, I…" She was talking because she had to, because until he reassured her, she would worry.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, I…" he took a breath. "Nell's fine, she's sleeping in my room, I…"

"Did something… It's not your mom, is it?" she sounded unnerved; the ups and downs had weighed on her, too.

"Summer," he spoke up, and he had to pause for a second. "Summer's dead." He heard himself say it, he had accepted it before, and still actually hearing the words made him feel like it had to be wrong. He heard Rachel audibly gasp, and he could see her standing there with a hand to her mouth.

"Sam, I'm sorry, I… How… I… No, you don't have to…"

"There was a car accident, her and some friends. One of them died, too, one might not make…" his throat was just growing dry.

"Hey, come on, sit down," she led him to a chair. "Did you know them all?" she sort of felt like she shouldn't ask, shouldn't intrude, but then she couldn't find what else to say. He nodded, and she breathed out… She couldn't even begin to imagine… "Oh, Nell…" her worries inevitably went to her, having never known Summer herself, or any of the other girls… She thought of the little girl, the sweet blonde with her daddy's smile… For Sam, hearing Rachel call mournfully for the girl made him sob, and she crouched to hold him.

"She… Summer's dead, Lena's dead, Karen might… and all I can think is 'Nell's mother is dead.'"

"That's normal," Rachel promised him. "You need to think about her, that's okay, more than okay…"

"It shouldn't have happened like this…" he shook his head, swiping at his face with the back of his hand. She silently nodded. "She can't have her chance now, with Nell, yes, but even more, with her whole… I wanted Nell to know her. Even if we've moved on, even if things aren't the normal way, I wanted her to see how beautiful she is, how bright she is, how smart she already…"

"I get that," Rachel held his hands. "I really do." He looked at her; he was just beside himself. "I'm going to stay with you, alright? Whatever you need." He gave a silent nod, then his eyes had moved to the side, and she understood. "I'll go see how she's doing."

She'd gone into his room, saw the sleeping girl. Maybe it was better off that she was too young to understand what was happening. Rachel for her part, on that day more than others, was aware of the role she had come to play in her life, the one Summer couldn't…

THE END

* * *

******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


End file.
